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Upcoming Events
April 29- May 3
7th Grade Seattle Trip
May 1-15
8th Grade Israel Trip
May 6
Celebrate Israel
Come March with our Hillel Kehilla and the entire community prior to the event and participate in the Celebrate Israel Event at discounted rate.
See Flyer for Details
May 8
Pre-1st Kaballat Siddur
9:30-10:30am
Lower Gym
May 10
Poker Tournament
Reserve your spot today!
See Flyer for Details
May 16
Trustee Dinner
May 19
Erev Shavuot
May 21
Shavout - School Closed
May 28
Memorial Day
School Closed
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Last day to shop online at
bn.com
and enter our Book Fair ID# 12353579 so we can get new books for our Library!!
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TEACHER & STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK
Teacher and staff appreciation week is coming up in May. The PTA will be honoring and celebrating our teachers and faculty with a grand breakfast, and lots of fun treats and surprises during the week.
To contribute to the teacher appreciation fund and show your gratitude,
click here or send your contribution via Venmo to @Hillel-PTA and reference Teacher Appreciation.
Your birthday child will get to choose a new book for the library with a dedication to him or her inside, check that book out first, and have their picture proudly on display in the library. Kids love to see their names in the books! Excess funds will be used for recreational supplies like games, balls, hula hoops and jump ropes.
The next birthday celebration is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 17
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FRUIT CART
Give your children the gift of healthy food. A fun and enjoyable treat!
Fruit cart sign-up entitles your student to a bag of fresh fruit once a week during the entire school year.
Fruit cart is available for
Grades
Pre-1 to 8
on Wednesday
mornings.
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Mazal Tov!
Sandy Kreitenberg on the birth of a new grandson!
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Condolences
July Boyer on the passing of her father
Yitzchak Ben Shmuel ob"m
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Parnas Hayom
Parnas
HaYom
is a beautiful way to honor a yarzheit, merit a refuah shelemah, or celebrate a simcha. Dedicating the Torah learning of students at Hillel to mark an occasion helps us to imbue both a love of learning and appreciation for the value of Torah scholarship.
*
4/27
Today's Parnas Hayom is generously sponsored in honor of Sora Pera Bat Malka, Liel Chaya Bas Talia, Shlomo Ben Sara Aliza, Rochel Emunah Bas Rivka Devora Brina, Moshe,
and all other people who need a refuah to have complete health till 120.
May the tefillot and learning of our children be a zechut for a refuah sheleima for
all those who need.
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ISSUE NO. 027
Friday, April 27, 2018
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By Rabbi Sufrin, Head of School
 This week's
parasha
of
Kedoshim
opens with Moshe, per Gd's directive, speaking to the entirety of the Jewish people and giving the instruction "קדושים תהיו -- you should be holy (because I, Gd, am holy.) The
parasha
then goes on to explain the various ways in which people are to conduct their everyday lives in order to achieve such holiness. The Hebrew word קדושים -- "holy" connotes an attribute of Gd, which seemingly requires one to transcend the mundane and separate oneself from that which is not sacred. Indeed, anything that is defined as קדוש -- "holy" usually describes something that is above the physical world. This poses somewhat of a contradiction, as the word תהיו -- "you should be" connotes being present and taking action in this earthly world. Which is it? Does Gd want us to be "holy" and separate from the ordinary, or rather, is His command in this parasha teaching us a different lesson?
The answer can be found based on Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's zt"l explanation on this verse. Rav Feinstein asks why in the
parasha
where the Torah commands us to be holy
do we find the bulk of the instructions that govern routine and worldly interactions? It is in
parashat
Kedoshim
that we learn, amongst others, many of the mitzvot of how to treat our fellow man, basic laws of business ethics and rules of agriculture. Surely this
parasha
should have dealt primarily with spiritual acts if attaining holiness means having to separate oneself from the realm of the physical? He responds that it is when we behave according to Gd's commandments in our everyday actions that we reach the highest level of spiritual greatness.
The message of this week's
parasha,
with its panoply of laws detailing what Gd wants from us in the physical world sends a very important message. As Hashem's chosen people, every Jewish soul has a spark of the Divine. By acting holy we create a sacred space for Gd to dwell in our midst and the best way to fulfill the
mitzvah
of "be holy קדושים " is when it is in a manner of תהיו -- "you should be." Each of us, as Gd's covenantal partners, is blessed with the ability to elevate all that we do in our daily routines. It is up to us to infuse our lives with holiness and exemplify what this parasha explains as the utmost of true קדושים.
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Enrollment is now open for Camp Hillel - Summer 2018!
For more information, contact Alexis Newman, Camp Hillel Director, at (310) 276-6135 or email
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Let's Play: A Visit to Friendship Circle
The seventh graders participated in an exciting monthly program called Let's Play, hosted by Friendship Circle, which includes children of all abilities playing side-by-side. As part of the students' pre-work leading up to the program, Chanie Lazaroff, program coordinator, came to Hillel to guide simulations for the students. This important pre-learning allowed the Hillel students to empathize with and then best support the children at Friendship Circle. Once on the Friendship Circle campus, our seventh graders were paired with students from Friendship Circle to do arts and crafts, join in tefilla and play in the playground. Each participant came away moved by the experience, not only with a greater sensitivity for people with differences, but a better understanding of their similarities.
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The Benefits of Being in the Hillel Choir
By Katherine Simon, Choir Director and 3rd Grade JS Teacher
Hillel is awesome in so many ways; our children are happy, inquisitive, multi-dimensional learners with so many opportunities to grow and happily flourish in their academic and social Torah education. One of the many beautiful and beneficial opportunities Hillel provides for its students is the Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy Choir.
The Hillel Choir is about more than just music and singing. Research has shown that singing in a choir is linked to language development, increased IQ, spatial-temporal skills, and improved test scores. Articles and research by The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and ABC Music and Me cite evidence of physiological, social, and far-reaching academic benefits associated with singing in a choir. The benefits include, but are not limited to, exercising the brain and body, and improving breathing, posture, and muscle tension. Participation in choir is also linked to sustaining "a healthy immune system by reducing the stress hormone cortisol and boosting the Immunoglobulin A antibody," as well as improving the sense of happiness and well-being "from the release of positive neurochemicals such as β-endorphin, dopamine, and serotonin." Finally, singing in a choir can influence changes in social closeness with others, initiate better performance on reading comprehension tests, and lead to better verbal memory, greater listening skills, and greater vocabulary. Chorus America's 2009 Choral Impact Study mentions the connection that parents and teachers report between choral singing participation and children's behavior in the classroom and at home. Parents of choristers reported that participating in a chorus contributed to other qualities that help their children learn and develop-such as good memory, good practice and homework habits, and high levels of creativity.
Here at Hillel, students arrive at the music room at 7:30 a.m. sharp every Friday for a beautiful tefillah that includes students from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, led by Morah Simon. At 7:55, Chazan Arik Wollheim and Mrs. Dika Chartoff lead the choir with beautiful interpretations of classic and modern Jewish music. The choristers maintain high standards of respect and middot tovot in every rehearsal and at every performance. Additionally, our choir members are able to connect to the HIllel community and kehilla by performing at various functions throughout the year. Actively participating in programs such as the Yom Hazikaron and Yom Hashoah events helps students feel a deep connection to the special times of the year. Our philosophy is that music should be fun and will motivate students to want to work hard. Choristers take the skills they have learned in the Hillel Choir and apply those skills to other areas of their lives. Learning to work as part of the "team," having a great attitude, working hard, setting goals and accomplishing those goals are just some of the important skills a Hillel Choir member will take away from the Hillel Choir.
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Assemblymember Bloom Speaks with 8th Grade
Mr. Nate Mangione, Middle School History Teacher
 Throughout the entire year, the 8th graders have discussed the importance of representative government in our country. Recently we had an opportunity to have a discussion with someone that embodies the very definition of that system. California State Assemblymember Richard Bloom spoke with our students, and the discourse between the students and their representative was a truly special thing to witness.
The 8th graders develop an understanding of representative government during our Constitution Unit. The 8th Grade History course revolves around a study of the Constitution and the kind of representative government it created. Students learn how to contextualize the document in order to understand why certain ideas are included. Students also learn about how the Constitution has evolved based on changing interpretations over the years. In addition, students learn about the successes and failures of the document.
The most important takeaway from this study, however, is that our system of representation is paramount to our identity as Americans. We fought two wars over it. The first war, the Revolution, was fought over the principle of "taxation without representation." The second war, The Civil War, was fought over the exploitation of Black Americans, not just as free laborers, but as pawns used to increase slave power representatives in the Senate. With this legacy in mind, we have an enormous responsibility to uphold the correct values of our representative government in order to avoid conflicts, maintain our democracy, and improve the lives of all Americans. One of the best ways to go about this is to communicate with our representatives. And that is what our students had the opportunity to do last week.
During the Assemblymember's initial presentation, students were immediately engaged with his story and his role as a state representative. Afterwards, the Assemblymember was met with a barrage of questions as most of the students had some curiosity or concern that they hoped to express. Students asked the Assemblymember about major issues such as gun violence, homelessness, mental disabilities, education, and the political process. The students gave the Assemblymember challenging questions regarding how he communicates with his constituency and how he researches issues in order to stay informed. Overall, it was a day when history really came alive for them!
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Play To Learn
By Aurelie Benittah, Nursery Teacher
 Learning through play is one of the great things about being in Nursery. The children are exposed to many different types of activities that seem like play, but are actually wonderful learning opportunities. In Nursery the children play with others both inside and outside of the classroom; they have the chance to play with a wide variety of games and toys that help them blossom both academically and socially.
When Nursery children play with blocks, they practice their speech and language skills by communicating with their friends about how to collaborate during the building process. At the same time, they are working on their fine motor skills as they form structures and put the pieces together. They are expressing themselves creatively in the process as they become designers, and they also get to practice the art of storytelling as they talk about their creations. They are using their math skills when deciding how many blocks to use for the structure and as they measure how tall to build the structure. They also use one-to-one correspondence at the end of their block play as they match each block during the clean up process.
So when you pass by our Nursery classrooms and think that we are "just playing," realize that as they play, the children are actually working on important skills that will serve them well when they enter the upper grades and in their future social and educational endeavors.
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My Family Story
From the desk of Morah Dalia Golan, Ivrit Coordinator
 We are proud to announce that Madeleine Bollag's project received a special mention in the "My Family Story" 2018 International Competition at Beit Hatfutsot, Museum of the Jewish People in Israel. The video of her presentation, which was sent in for the judging committee, will be on view as part of the exhibit at the museum. The video (with added subtitles) will be seen by thousands of people visiting the museum in June and July. This year's exhibit is especially exciting since we are celebrating 70 years to the State of Israel. We would also like to congratulate Julia Mizrahi on her beautiful project. The judges were impressed by the way she brought her family story alive in the boat and "No wander" album.
This is the first year we have engaged in this exciting educational project, My Family Story, through the Beit Hatfutsot, Museum of the Jewish People and the International School for Jewish Peoplehood Studies in Israel. The program aims to encourage a deep connection to the Jewish People through fun and meaningful assignments. The students researched their family history by having conversations with parents and grandparents. They created a scrapbook and a display, representing the unique features of their family. Both items were presented on Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We are looking forward to continuing this amazing project in upcoming years.
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Join us and the other 15,000 people expected at the Celebrate Israel Festival on May 6, 2018 in Rancho Park.
Before the Festival, we will be participating as a school in the Community-Wide Walk in solidarity with Israel. We will assembly at 10:30 a.m in the Rancho Park parking lot. See you there!
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Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy accepts paid advertising if it conforms to the values of the school. However, the school and it's personnel with the Board of Directors do not accept liability or responsibility for advertisers' claims or kashrut of products advertised.
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